Safety railing for building construction

ABSTRACT

A method of installing a safety railing in a building under construction by providing post supports comprising open-topped post sockets on socket supports, mounting the post sockets on a concrete floor formwork with the post sockets spaced above the concrete floor formwork by the socket supports and casting concrete to form a concrete floor on the concrete floor formwork and thereby embedding the post supports in the concrete floor with the concrete extending beneath the post sockets. The lower ends of posts are then inserted into the post sockets to support the posts above the concrete floor and rails are supported on the posts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods of installing safety railings in buildings under construction, to safety railings and to post support for use in safety railings.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the construction of a multi-floor concrete building, concrete floor formworks are employed for the casting of the floors in succession. As each floor is cast, it is necessary to install a temporary safety railing around the periphery of that floor, so that workers are prevented from falling from that floor. When the work on that floor by the workers has been completed, the safety railing is removed.

At present, the conventional method of installing such a safety railing is to secure brackets by nailing the brackets to the columns of the building under construction. These brackets are then employed to support horizontal rails. Also, it is common to gather scrap lumber on a building site and to employ it to make posts, with feet projecting horizontally from the posts, the feet being reinforced by triangular pieces of plywood secured to the feet and to the posts. With the posts positioned on a newly cast concrete floor at a spacing of eight feet, holes are then drilled through the feet into the underlying concrete floor and lengths of rebar wire and nails are inserted to anchor the feet and, thereby, the posts to the concrete. Wooden rails are then nailed to the posts or supported in the posts by brackets fashioned from scrap wood and nailed to the posts.

It is, however, a disadvantage of this prior method that it is very labor intensive, since in practice it is usually necessary to have such railing installation performed by at least one construction worker, who is dedicated to that task and who is normally kept so busy by this work that he is unavailable for other work on the building site.

Also, the drilling into the concrete involves the risk of breakage and consequential repairs and may cause damage to wiring or pipes embedded in the concrete.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of installing a safety railing in a building under construction by mounting open-topped post sockets on socket supports on a concrete floor formwork with the post sockets spaced above the concrete floor formwork by the socket supports, casting concrete to form a concrete floor on the concrete floor formwork and thereby embedding the post sockets and the socket supports in the concrete floor with the concrete extending beneath said post sockets, inserting lower ends of posts in the post sockets to support the posts above the concrete floor and supporting rails on the posts.

With the method according to the present invention, there is no need to drill into the concrete floor or the walls or columns of the building and, therefore, no risk of damage caused by such drilling. Also, there is a substantial saving of work as compared with the above-described conventional method of installing safety railings.

Because the post sockets are supported above the concrete floor formwork, by the socket supports, during the casting of the floor, the concrete can flow beneath the post sockets so that, when the concrete has cured, the post sockets are supported on the concrete which has become located beneath the post sockets.

The socket supports extend to the underside of the newly cast concrete floor, which in accordance with conventional building construction practice is then ground prior to the application of a finish layer to the underside of the concrete floor. The grinding operation serves to smoothen any projection by the lower ends of the socket supports at the underside of the concrete floor.

The socket supports may have lower ends which are downwardly tapered so that only a small amount, if any, of the post supports projects at the underside of the concrete floor before the grinding operation.

During the casting of the concrete to form the concrete floor, the post sockets can be covered by lids, which prevent concrete from entering into the post sockets and which, thereby, facilitate the insertion of the posts into the post sockets. These lids are then removed before the insertion of the posts into the post sockets. When the safety railing is no longer required on the concrete floor, the rails and the posts can be removed. The post sockets are then filled and concealed by the application of a finish layout onto the top of the concrete floor.

Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a post support for a safety railing, the post support comprising a post socket having an upwardly open top and a socket support extending downwardly from the post socket, the socket support comprising support members each having a foot portion extending laterally of the respective support member.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a safety railing on a concrete floor in a building under construction, the safety railing comprising a plurality of open-topped post sockets embedded in the concrete floor with the concrete of the concrete floor extending beneath the post sockets, the post sockets each having a post socket support extending downwardly from the post socket and terminating at an underside of the concrete floor, posts inserted into and extending upwardly from the post sockets and rails supported on the posts.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the socket support comprises a plurality, preferably three, of support members each having a lower end formed with a foot extending laterally from the respective support member and having a downwardly tapered underside. After the post sockets have been embedded in the concrete floor, most of the support members are above the underside of the concrete floor, and any small portion of the downwardly tapered undersides of the foot portions is readily removable by grinding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a view in perspective of a safety railing according to an embodiment of the present invention on a broken-away portion of a concrete floor;

FIG. 2 shows a view in perspective of a post socket forming part of the safety railing of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show, respectively, a view in side elevation and a plan view of the post socket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a view in perspective of a post forming part of the safety railing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a broken-away view, in side elevation, of parts of the post of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a broken-away view, in side elevation, of a part of the post of FIG. 5, including a rail support bracket;

FIG. 8 shows a view in perspective of the rail support bracket of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a plan view of a toe kick bracket on the post of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 shows a view in perspective of the toe kick bracket of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 shows a broken-away view, taken in vertical cross-section, through a newly cast concrete floor on a concrete floor formwork, with the post socket of FIG. 2 embedded in the concrete floor;

FIG. 12 shows a view similar to that of FIG. 11, but with the concrete floor formwork removed and finish layers applied to the top and the undersurface of the concrete floor;

FIG. 13 shows a view corresponding to that of FIG. 3 but showing a modification of the post socket of FIGS. 2-4; and

FIG. 14 shows a broken-away view in side elevation of a foot portion of the post socket of FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown a safety railing, indicated generally by reference 10, which is installed on a concrete floor 12. The safety railing 10 has post sockets, of which only one is shown in FIG. 1 and is indicated generally by reference numeral 14, posts indicated generally by reference numerals 16, and horizontal rails 18 supported on the posts 16. A lowermost rail, commonly referred to in the construction industry as a “kick rail”, is indicated by reference numeral 20 and supported on the concrete floor 12 by the posts 16.

One of the post supports 14 is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 2 through 4, and comprises an open-topped cylindrical post socket 22, with a circular lid 24 for closing the top of the cylindrical post socket 22.

The cylindrical post socket 22 is provided on a socket supports formed by three legs or support members in the form of flanges 26, which are equi-angularly spaced apart around the cylindrical post socket 22. These flanges 26 extend downwardly and laterally outwardly of the cylindrical post socket 22 from the outer cylindrical surface of the cylindrical post socket 22.

Each of the flanges 26 terminates at its lower portion in a foot portion, indicated generally by reference numeral 28, extending laterally from the respective flange 25. In the embodiment of the post support 14 of FIGS. 2 through 3, each foot portion 28 has, at its underside, a pair of spaced parallel rib-shaped projections forming downwardly tapered underside portions 30 of the foot portion 28. A vertical fastener opening 32 extends through the foot portion 28, the opening 32 extending, at the bottom of the opening 32, between the downwardly tapered underside portions 30.

The cylindrical post socket 22, the flanges 26, the foot portions 28 are formed in one piece, of plastic material, by molding. The hollow interior of the cylindrical post socket 22 is dimensioned to receive the lower end of one of the posts 16.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show one of the posts 16, which is formed from a length of pipe 34, to which a vertically spaced pair of a rail support brackets 36 and a toe kick bracket 38 are secured by welding.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show one of the rail support brackets 36 in greater detail. As shown in FIG. 8, the rail support bracket 36 comprises a lower portion formed by a pair of spaced, parallel triangular flanges 40, which are bridged by an intermediate portion 42. A circularly curved edge 44 formed at one end of the intermediate portion 42, and vertical edges 46 of the flanges 40, fit snugly against and are welded to the outer surface of the pipe 34 of the rail 16 and are connected to the pipe 34 by welding 47. At the end of the intermediate portion 42 opposite from the circularly curved edge 44, an upturned flange 48 extends vertically upwardly from the intermediate portion 42.

The flange 48 is formed with a nail hole 49, through which a nail (not shown) may, if required, be driven into the rail 18 supported on the bracket 36 to secure that rail 18 to the support bracket 36. The flange 48 is also formed with a slot 51, which extends to the top of the flange 48 and which may, if required, removably receive a nail driven into the rail 18, so that the rail 18 can be lifted from the bracket 36 if, for example, it is desired to temporarily remove the rail 36 to allow someone to pass through the railing 10.

As shown at the right-hand side of FIG. 1, additional rails 18A may be positioned so as to overlap adjacent ends 51 of the rails 18 and also to overlap the flanges 48 at the rail ends 51. These additional rails are secured by nailing them to the rail ends 51.

The toe kick bracket 38, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, has a pair of side walls 50, with an intermediate portion 52 extending between the bottoms of the side walls 50, and a vertical plate 54. The intermediate portion 52 is formed with a circular opening 56, which is dimensioned to snugly receive therethrough the pipe 34 of the post 16.

The vertical plate 54 is formed with a rectangular cutout 58, which extends vertically downwardly from the top of the vertical plate 54. As shown in FIG. 9, the pipe 34 is secured to the intermediate portion 52 by welding 59 around the circular cutout 56, and to the edges of the cutout 58 in the vertical plate 54 by welding 61.

The side walls 50, which project upwardly from the intermediate portion 52 at opposite sides of the circular opening 56, have vertical edges 60, which terminate at a spacing above the intermediate portion 52 and which, as shown in FIG. 9, are also welded to the pipe 34 by welding 63. The spacings between these edges 60 and the plate 54 facilitate the forming of the side walls 50 perpendicular to the intermediate portion 52.

The vertical plate 54 is also formed with a pair of nail holes 55, through which nails (not shown) may be driven into the toe kick 20 to secure the toe kick 20 to the corresponding post 34.

As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the form of the rail support brackets 36 and the toe kick brackets 38 may be varied. For example, the two side walls 40 of the rail support bracket 36 may be replaced by a single triangular gusset (not shown) welded to the underside of the intermediate portion 42 and to the pipe 34. Also, the side walls 50 of the toe kick bracket 38 may be replaced by a single central gusset (not shown) welded to the underside of the intermediate portion 56 and to the pipe 34, the intermediate portion having a triangular or circularly curved shape.

As shown in FIG. 1, another toe kick 20A may be installed in overlapping relationship relative to the toe kick 20, the toe kick 20A being nailed to the toe kick 20.

FIGS. 11 and 12 shows two stages in the construction of a building floor, indicated generally by reference numeral 62.

Before the casting of the concrete floor 62, the post sockets 14, only one of which is shown in FIG. 11, are mounted at a predetermined spacing from one another on concrete floor formwork, which is shown broken-away in FIG. 11 and indicated by reference numeral 64. The concrete floor formwork 64 is made of plywood, and the post support 14 is temporarily secured to the concrete floor formwork 64 by means of nails 66, which are inserted through the vertical openings 32 in the foot portions 28 of the flanges 26 and driven into the plywood of the concrete floor formwork 64.

When the required number of the post supports 14 have been mounted on and secured to the concrete floor formwork 64 in this way, with the lids 24 covering the open tops of the post supports 14, concrete is poured onto the concrete floor formwork 64 to the level of the tops of the lids 24. As this occurs, the concrete flows beneath the underside of the cylindrical post socket 22 of each post support 14, so that the concrete floor 62 extends beneath the cylindrical post socket 22.

When the concrete of the concrete floor 62 has sufficiently hardened, the concrete floor formwork 64 is removed to expose an undersurface 68 of the concrete floor 62. In accordance with conventional building construction practice, this undersurface 68 is then ground to smoothen it. During this grinding operation, any ends of the nails 66, and any parts of the downwardly tapered portions 32 of the foot portions 28 of the flanges 26, protruding from the undersurface 68 of the concrete floor 62 are also ground and, thereby, smoothened.

In the next step, and also in accordance with conventional building construction practice, a thin finish layer 70 of concrete is applied to the undersurface 68 of the concrete floor 62, and this finish layer 70 conceals any parts of the nails 66 and the foot portions 28 visible at the undersurface 68.

The lids 24 are removed from the post supports 14 to allow the lower ends of the posts 16 to be inserted into the cylindrical bodies 22, and the rails 18 and the toe kick 20 are then installed on the posts 16, as shown in FIG. 1 to form the safety railing 10.

When the safety railing 10 is no longer required, the rails 18 and 18A, the toe kicks 20 and 20A and the posts 16 are removed and, also in accordance with conventional building construction practice, a finish layout 72 of concrete is applied to the top of the concrete floor 62. This finish layer 72 simultaneously fills the interior of the post sockets 22 and covers and conceals the post supports 14 embedded in the concrete floor 62.

FIG. 13 shows a post socket 114, which is a modification of the post support 14 of FIGS. 2 through 4. Instead of having the foot portions 28 having two downwardly extending rib-shaped portions 30, such as those shown in the post support 14, the post socket 114 of FIG. 13 has foot portions 28A each with only a single downwardly extending, downwardly tapered rib-shaped portion 130 at the underside of each lower portion 28A. This replacement of the pairs of downwardly tapering portions 30 by single downwardly tapering portions 130 facilitates flow of the concrete beneath the foot portions 28A during the casting of the concrete floor 62.

It has also been found that the post support 14 or 114 can usefully be employed in the screeding of a concrete floor. For this purpose, two or more of the post supports are mounted on a formwork, e.g. the formwork 64 and a laser beam is directed across the tops of these post supports to ascertain whether they are level. If so, then the concrete can be poured and a length of lumber can them be positioned on the post supports and then used to screed, i.e. to level, the concrete.

The heights of the post supports determine the thickness of the concrete floor 62, and the post supports 14 and 114 may therefore be produced in different sizes to enable the casting of floors of correspondingly different thicknesses.

While each of the post supports 14 and 114 is formed with three support members or legs 26, which are sufficient to provide stability, it would alternatively be possible to use four or even more legs, but that would require additional plastic material labor for nailing and, therefore, unnecessary expense. It would also be possible to provide each post socket 22 with a socket support different from the above-described socket supports formed by the support members 26, e.g. a socket support of cruciform cross-section.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various modifications may be made in the above-described embodiment of the present invention within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method of installing a safety railing in a building under construction, comprising the steps of: providing post supports comprising open-topped post sockets on socket supports; mounting said post sockets on a concrete floor formwork with said post sockets spaced above the concrete floor formwork by said socket supports; casting concrete to form a concrete floor on said concrete floor formwork and thereby embedding said post supports in the concrete floor with said concrete extending beneath said post sockets; inserting lower ends of posts in said post sockets to support said posts above said concrete floor; and supporting rails on said posts.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, which includes covering said post sockets during the casting of the concrete on the concrete floor formwork to prevent the entry of the concrete into the post sockets, and subsequently uncovering said post sockets to allow the insertion of said posts into said post sockets.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 2, in which the step of covering said post socket comprises providing said post sockets with removable lids.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 2, which includes removing said posts from said post sockets and subsequently applying a layer of finish concrete onto the concrete floor to thereby fill said post sockets with the finish concrete.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, which includes removing the concrete floor formwork from the concrete floor after the curing of the concrete floor, and grinding the underside of the concrete floor to smoothen any portions of the socket supports extending to the underside of the concrete floor.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 5, which includes applying a finish layer to the underside of the concrete floor after the grinding of the underside of the concrete floor.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of mounting said post supports on said concrete floor formwork includes inserting fasteners through said socket supports into said concrete floor formwork.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 4, which includes removing the concrete floor formwork from the concrete floor after the curing of the concrete floor, and grinding the underside of the concrete floor to smoothen any portions of the socket supports extending to the underside of the concrete floor.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of mounting said post supports on said concrete floor formwork includes inserting fasteners through said socket supports into said concrete floor formwork.
 10. A post support for a safety railing, said post support comprising: a post socket; said post socket having an upwardly open top; a sockets support extending downwardly from said post socket; said socket support comprising support members each projecting downwardly and laterally outwardly from said post socket; said support members each having a lower end spaced downwardly and laterally outwardly of said post socket; and said lower ends each having a foot portion extending laterally of the respective support member.
 11. A post support as claimed in claim 10, wherein said support members comprise flanges molded in one piece with said post socket and extending laterally from said post socket.
 12. A post support as claimed in claim 10, wherein said feet portions each have at least one downwardly tapered underside portion.
 13. A post support as claimed in claim 10, wherein said seat portions each have a vertical fastener opening extending therethrough.
 14. A post support as claimed in claim 10, including a removable cover closing said open top of said post socket.
 15. A safety railing on a concrete floor in a building under construction, said safety railing comprising a plurality of open-topped post sockets embedded in the concrete floor with the concrete of the concrete floor extending beneath said post sockets, said post sockets each having a post socket support terminating at an underside of said concrete floor, posts inserted into and extending upwardly from said post sockets and rails supported on said posts.
 16. A safety railing as claimed in claim 15, wherein said post socket support comprises support members each projecting downwardly and laterally outwardly from said post socket, said support members each having a lower end spaced downwardly and laterally outwardly of said post socket and said support members each having a foot portion extending laterally of the respective support member.
 17. A safety railing as claimed in claim 16, wherein each of said post sockets has three of said support members equiangularly spaced around said post socket.
 18. A safety railing as claimed in claim 16, wherein said foot portion has a downwardly tapered underside. 